My desktop in my hands
New warehouse mobility service: $350k estimated savings for two pilot warehouses.
Goal
Provide supervisors with equivalent desktop capabilities to manage workflow from the warehouse floor.
Deliverables
- Supervisors need to be confident, see the value, and promote the solution.
- The device must be purchased through an enterprised approved vendor.
- The device must support current Warehouse Management and back-office software.
- The device must run a corporate IT approved OS image that can be remotely pushed updates.
- Quick replenishment of damaged or malfunctioning devices
- 24/7 Support
My Role
- Facilitate project from conception to program roll-out.
- Perform contextual inquiries to gain a deep understanding of warehouse associates and supervisors and their processes.
- Determine ROI
- Evangelize and gain support for the proposed solution with Procurement, Security, and Support corporate teams.
A Lean A3 document was used to manage the Mobility Program to mirror familiar operations communication practices.
Learnings
During contextual inquires and device piloting, we discovered new requirements and opportunities, including:
- The device needs to be capable of withstanding a fall from 4 feet.
- Staff needs to carry the devices hands-free when climbing ladders and driving warehouse vehicles.
- The device needs to support remote disabling in case of loss or theft.
- The device needs the ability to print from anywhere, to anywhere, in the warehouse.
- Camera and video capabilities can be leveraged to take and share videos of work being done to identify best practices and continuous improvement opportunities.
- Photos of damaged goods coming into the facility can be shared from the device with customers and freight carriers.
- Connecting a Bluetooth scanner to the devices reduces the need to manually enter product data into the Warehouse Management System.
Outcome
Working collectively, we provided warehouses with devices that met the organizations' software, hardware, and security requirements with 24/7 support.
Warehouse Supervisors passion for the program and ROI calculations convinced C-level support for out of budget support for the procurement of handheld devices.
We estimated a conservative annual savings of $350k per warehouse based on two pilots. The company has over 200 warehouses worldwide.
Mobility Program estimated $350k in annual savings for two pilot warehouses.
Tablets are great for on-the-spot counting and verifying configurations of parts in their actual locations and set-ups. They also allow for on-floor problem solving with warehouse personnel. I can walk to the problem location with them and directly address parts issues like expirations." Senior Operations Supervisor, Sandston VA